


Talking to the Moon

by mortifera



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 05:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11776899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mortifera/pseuds/mortifera
Summary: Fascinated by an old story his mother once read to him as a child, Neah Campbell becomes obsessed with returning the boy on the moon back to Earth. Of course, he soon learns that such stories are nothing but nonsense to entertain children. But even some stories hold a bit of truth to them.





	Talking to the Moon

It was night by the time the child had finished all of his farm chores - hardly more than 10 years of age - and yet he had done the work of four men that day. And it showed: his small body was burnt and bruised, having ignored past injuries and continuing to labor away at the dying fields of wheat. There was no one to greet him as he entered what appeared to be an abandoned farm house, dust and grime staining the entire house. The faint sound of tiny feet skittering away as the boy approached did not faze him much, having grown quite accustomed to the rats and raccoons that had made this place their home as well.

His stomach growled angrily, reminding him for the nth time that his last meal had been nothing but grass and some sparrow he’d managed to scavenge. Every part of him ached: his legs, his arms, his eyes, everything.

He managed to get to the pile of hay before collapsing, coughing as he struggled to breathe. The hay, which had functioned as his bed when all their animals had ran off, was no longer his place of solace, but a coffin. He was going to die here, without a single soul left to give a damn. It scared him, dying, but life had been nothing but agony and tireless labor for him. Anything was better than life at this point.

Sighing, he slowly turned his head towards the window, the moon gleaming prettily at him. His lips twitched for a moment, happy to see his old friend. The moon seemed exceptionally beautiful during this night, far bigger and brighter than he was used to.

Licking his chapped lips, he attempted to speak, but found it difficult to as it had been so long since he’d even talked to anyone. His throat was sore and dry, desperate for more water, even though the well out back had dried days ago, and the trip to the river took too much of his energy.

“Friend.” He called out in a raspy voice, clearing his throat several times in order to fix it. “It’s been some time, hasn’t it?”

The moon responded as it always did: silently.

“The farm-” He gestured with pathetic jerk of his head, “I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want mom and dad. I miss Timmy and Marie. I’m tired and hungry. I just want to sleep.” He felt his eyes well up, yet no tears fell. He let out a loud sob, wailing loudly once, for it hurt his throat too much to make such a noise.

It was too much for the poor child to handle, his little body shaking from coldness, despite the summer’s sweltering heat. He’d never felt more exhausted in his life, in every sense of the word. He had clung to the farm because it was all he had ever known, there was no life outside it, no family, nothing but uncertainty.

His vision was becoming bleary, the toll on his body now beginning to weigh even more heavily on him. He wanted to sleep and never wake up. Perhaps now, in whatever came next, there would be peace for him.

_“Is that what you truly want?”_ An ethereal voice answered from seemingly nowhere, causing the child to jolt. His eyes attempted to find the owner of the voice, but it was too dark and his vision hopelessly bleary.

“Wh-who?” He managed to whisper before a bright light flashed in front him, transforming into the vague shape of a woman. The newcomer did not respond, other than to stoop beside him and gently caress his cheek. It was cool and refreshing, and the child hungered for more of the phantom’s touch, having been starved of any human companionship for ages.

_“Do you want to die here, child?”_ It asked once more, despite having no mouth in which to produce words. Wearily, the child tried to touch the ghost, only for his fingers to slip through it.

“No.” The reply was followed by a series of coughs, making it difficult to catch his breath.

_“Would you like to live with me then?”_ It stood up and extended its hand to him, as though he had the energy to pull himself to grab it. But anywhere was better than this hell.

“Yes. Please. Take me away from here, as far away as you can.” The child practically pleaded, and the ghost seemed to glow brighter, as though satisfied with his response.

_"Don’t worry little one, I think the Moon is far away enough for you.”_

Within an instant, both had disappeared, and not a trace of the boy’s presence was left behind.

 

* * *

 

Miles away from the closest city lay a moderately sized villa, which was surrounded with luscious greenery and golden fields of wheat for as far as one could see. Most of the landscape’s beauty was hidden by the darkness of the nighttime sky, with only the stars and the moon to shed any light.

Within the house were several lights, and the playful screams of a child as he raced up the stairs and into the hallway, closely followed by a taller, youthful looking lady. She wore a long periwinkle nightgown, and her hair was neatly tucked away into a braid. The boy wore grey trousers and a white button up shirt, his dark brown hair sticking every which way. Both had smiles across their face, the woman laughing as she pretended to growl angrily at the child.

“Mother stop!” The little boy screamed in between giggles as he ran into his room, his mother following him with a mischievous smile riddled across her face. After having been told repeatedly that it was time for bed, his mother had decided to force him into bed by tickling him until he gave up.

“Now,” His mother said as she closed the door behind her, “will you finally get into bed, little one?” She crossed the room and pulled back the duvet covers and fluffed up his pillows as he began to change out of his day clothes and into his night gown. He struggled to pull the top of it over his head, becoming slightly annoyed as he recalled Mana’s insult from earlier regarding his “big head.” A gentle hand helped him push his head through, and she smiled at him fondly.

He made his way into the bed and eagerly awaited the bedtime story, as it was around this time when their mother would sit on their bed and lull the brothers to sleep with a simple story. Unfortunately, Mana was not sharing his night with Neah, as he had fallen ill in the afternoon, and the doctor had insisted that he be bedridden and isolated to avoid getting any of the others sick. The cold, empty space next to Neah troubled him, as his mother had said nothing in regards to Mana’s condition despite having spent the past several hours by his side.

Her gentle hand caressed his cheek, as though she knew his thoughts and attempted to soothe them away. Tonight, she did not have a book in her hands, and instead moved towards his curtains and drew them back to reveal the moonlight’s soft light. Sparkled across the midnight sky were dozens of small, flickering lights, a sight Neah never grew old of seeing. It was the one thing he hated about living in their urban mansion, as the thick smoke and tall buildings concealed the night’s beauty. But here in their Mother’s countryside villa, miles away from any of the big cities, the sky’s charm blossomed, with the moon shining brightly for all to see.

Sighing, he sank deeper into his bed, wondering if there would be no story tonight.

“Neah, did you know there’s a man in the moon?” She asked, her eyes gleaming as she admired the fullness and radiance of the orb.

Golden eyes widened with wonder as he shook his head and tried his best to look more closely at the moon. Surely if there was a man living there, there must be some way to see him, right?

“Where is he? Can you see him?” Neah asked, straining his eyes to see if he could find the man.

His mother tittered at Neah’s excitement, shaking her head. “Not tonight Neah, he only reveals himself on special nights. Would you like to know how he came to live on the moon?”

“Yes!” Pulling the covers over himself, he wiggled beneath and got himself comfortable.

“Once upon a time,” She said grandly, waving her hand in a sort of whimsical fashion, “there lived a lonely boy in a house near some woods. He was sad, for his parents had died and he was an only child on a farm. He had no relatives, no pets, just the house and the farmland his parents had owned. He tended to the crops as he had been taught to day after day, his only companion when he fell asleep the moon.” She walked back towards his bed and sat at the very end of it.

“So he didn’t always live on the moon?” Neah was slightly crestfallen, as the story was not as how he had expected it to be.

His mother nodded, continuing her tale, “Whenever the moon was full, the boy would go and share his day’s troubles, as though they were friends. The Moon, of course, never responded to him, which was just fine with the boy. With the Moon as his night companion, he continued to be the dutiful son he was, caring for the land until he turned 16, where he realized how truly alone he was in the world. Upon this realization, he cried out to the moon and declared that he could no longer live out his existence on such a place. And to his surprise, the Moon spoke back to him, asking if he would much rather live with them. Eager to have someone at last to share his company, the boy hastily agreed, and was swept up by clouds into the sky and to the Moon. And there, he has lived out the rest of his existence. Some even say that he still lives there.”

“Wow! Really?” It seemed incredible that a man could live so far away from the Earth. He wondered if the man had ever wanted to return to his home on Earth, but then he recalled that there was nothing for him here. “What was the boy’s name, Mama?”

“I don’t know love, I forgot that part.”

“I can’t wait to tell Mana about the man in the Moon.” He murmured to himself, wondering whether there was some way for him to contact the boy or the moon. He wanted to know what it was like to live there. A part of him had simply accepted this story as fact without the slightest bit of questioning, so fascinated with the idea of a world beyond the one he knew.

A yawn escaped his mouth, realizing that the story was meant to put him to bed. His mother stood up from the bed and kissed his forehead sweetly, whispering good night as she left the room. He wasn’t used to the sleeping with the curtains open, especially when it was a full moon, which spilled so much light into his room it made it difficult to close his eyes. He hopped off his bed to go and close the curtain when he chanced a look at the moon. He recalled that the boy had talk to the moon, and had one day managed to ascertain a response from the shy being. Surely, if he did the same, the moon too would one day ask him if he would like to join them and the boy on the moon.

He pressed closer to the window, gazing up at the pale wonder. “Hello Moon. You don’t know me, but we’re going to be great friends.”

 

* * *

 

The loud rumble of feet could be heard a mile away as Neah ran straight to the room that had been closed off to him for the last two weeks. For two weeks, he had been forced to contain his excitement and the story about the boy in the moon from Mana. But as of 20 minutes ago, Mana had been cleared of his cold by a physician who had been by his brother’s side constantly for the past couple weeks.

Every day, Neah had waited by the door for the doctor to see if Mana was well enough for him to talk to. And every day, the answer was the same.

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Campbell, but rest assured, your brother will be on his feet in no time.”

He would not answer any of Neah’s questions, so he was forced to entertain himself while he waited for Mana to recover.

In that time, he had decided to do his research on the man in the moon. Since his mother had told him the story, he had begun to ponder if anyone had made any attempts to connect with the boy. Surely there had to be some way for him to communicate with him.

With that thought in mind, he began combing through their surprisingly vast collection of books. He started with the astrology books; however, he found very little information regarding to any person living on the rock. In fact, many of the materials he went over seemed to believe that there were no living creatures on it. Perhaps he was looking in the wrong place, he thought to himself, and discarded the astronomy books in exchange for the mythology ones. Again, he received very little success, as many myths simply personified the moon, yet mentioned nothing of a man who lived there. Other myths held the man in disdain, as instead of the moon inviting the man to live on it, he was punished for committing some sort of egregious crime.

With his research being fruitless, Neah had become frustrated and hoped that with Mana’s assistance, they would be able to find something substantial.

Plus, their library was now an utter mess due to Neah not knowing where half the books went, which made his Mother rather irritable, as she did not like messes. He had promised her he would clean it up, yet he had not done so, having hoped to also elicit Mana’s help with that chore.

Climbing the last set of stairs, he barged down the corridor and into Mana’s room. A bright, mischievous smile greeting him as he did so.

“Neah!” Mana cried out gleefully from his bed, the doctor still examining him and preventing his sibling from rushing towards him.

“Do hold still, Master Campbell.” The doctor said gruffly, examining Mana’s breathing with a stethoscope. “Now, when I say breathe, I need you to breathe for me. Understand?”

Mana nodded, focusing on breathing loudly through his nose when asked by the doctor. He did this several times before the doctor seemed satisfied, checking Mana’s throat and feeling it before he turned to Neah.

“Master Campbell is well enough to play now.” He said, “But make sure he stays warm, as he’s still wheezing quite a bit.”

Neah didn’t really pay attention to anything the doctor said after “well enough” before crossing the room in a blink of an eye and jumping on top of Mana’s bed.

“Mana! I have so many things to tell you about!” He cajoled as he hugged Mana tightly.

“Neah, not so tight.” Mana whined with a grin, just as happy as Neah was to see him. “What did I miss while I was sick?”

Neah quickly released Mana, not wanting to hurt him or cause him to get sick again. “Mother told me the most wonderful story. I’ve been waiting ages to tell you it!”

Just as he was about to recount the tale of the Man in the Moon, his Mother entered the room, looking not too pleased.

“Neah, didn’t I tell you to clean your mess up in the library?” Mother asked sternly, as this was not the first, nor the second time she had asked Neah to complete the task.

Hanging his head, Neah mumbled an apology, and then under his breath, said “What’s the point of having servants if we still have to clean our messes?”

“Neah!” She replied sharply, before sighing and taking a moment to calm herself so she wouldn’t lose her patience. Neah bowed his head, knowing that she was about to chastise him once more on his impoliteness.

“Mother, I’ll help him.” Mana offered meekly as he began to get off the bed. “It’ll get done faster if we both work together.” Neah shot Mana a grateful glance, before turning a wary eye to his mother, who seemed satisfied with Mana’s suggestion. With Mana supervising, the task would surely be completed, as he was far more responsible than Neah was. She gave Neah one last meaningful look, before betraying a small smile and leaving to follow up with the physician.

The two boys shared an identical smile, eager to be reunited once more and partake in their usual reckless play. Neah was mindful as he rushed off to the library to not go too fast for Mana, who despite keeping up with him fairly well, had started to wheeze quite heavily once they’d reached the library. It truly was quite a mess, one would think it had been created by a multitude of people rather than one persistent child. Large sections of shelves had been emptied of books and had begun to collect dust, while said books were splayed carelessly about the floor in no particular fashion. Some were opened, others hardly touched at all, as though the person had merely been hopping from one book to another in an excited flurry. The lone table in the room was also stacked with books and overflowing with parcels filled with sloppily written notes as well as some very interesting doodles of a boy and the moon.

Mana gazed around the room in awe, still struggling to catch his breathe as he took in the mess Neah had managed to accumulate in the couple weeks he’d been sick. “What were you even doing in here, Neah? I thought you didn’t like the big books because they had words you didn’t understand.”

Neah began grabbing the books off the floor and placing them on the first available shelf, ignoring the fact that they didn’t belong on that shelf. “They do. I was just really curious about the boy in the moon. While you were sick, Mother told me a story about him.”

“The boy in the moon?” Mana inquired as he grabbed the books Neah had just shelved incorrectly and began placing in their correct section. “People can’t live on the moon Neah.”

Neah seemed offended by the notion, wondering why Mana was not as interested as he had been. Perhaps he needed to share the full story in order for Mana to be as captivated as he was.

Ignoring what Mana had said, he began to retell the story to Mana, continuing to misplace books and clean up sloppily while Mana followed and corrected his work, listening to the story intently, though seeming not as rapt as Neah had been when his Mother had been narrating the story to him. His brother’s lack of interest began to dissuade him, wondering if he was simply a bad story teller.

Even once he’d finished the story, Mana was quiet, focusing on the task at hand, which frustrated Neah. He’d waited weeks to rave about this fascinating story to Mana, only for him to not even attempt to feign any semblance of enthusiasm.

As the silence stretched on, Neah crammed the last of the books into the shelf and turned to Mana, glaring at him furiously. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Isn’t it exciting?”  

Mana merely shrugged, collecting the hastily written notes Neah had left on the table and handing them to Neah to place elsewhere in his room. “I mean, it’s clearly not true. It’s just a story Neah, why were you even excited about it?”

Hurt, Neah snatched his notes and glared angrily at Mana. “What do you mean it’s not true?! It’s definitely possible! We don’t know anything about the Moon, and sometimes it looks like it has a face in it! I read up on it Mana, that’s why I had all these books out!”

“Oh Neah.” Mana sighed, infuriating Neah even further. “You’re so dumb, that doesn’t mean someone lives there, how would a man even get there in the first place? Don’t you think if someone knew how to get there, we’d also know how to by now?”

“Sod off Mana!” With tears in his eyes, Neah rushed out of the library while Mana called out to him, not even bothering to chase after him. There had to be a man in the moon. He didn’t want Mana to be right. Mana was always right. He was always wrong because he was the younger one. He slammed his door and locked him, a sob breaking out as he dropped his notes all over the floor and flounced onto his bed.

He would have to apologize, because Mana had been kind enough to help him clean up, and how had he thanked him? By throwing a fit when Mana didn’t share his interest in finding the man on the moon. He curled up and cried himself to sleep, hating how silly he was.

In his dream, he was sitting next to the window, the curtains draw back and revealing the full majesty of the moon, gleaming in the darkness, accompanied by the thousands of stars in the sky, though the moon was far more impressive than any of the smaller lights. He was telling the moon about his day, about how Mother’s favorite tree, Cornelia, appeared to be dying, despite all attempts to keep it alive and well.

_Perhaps it is Cornelia’s time to return back to Mother Earth_ , Neah echoed his mother’s words to the moon. It seemed to acknowledge him, glowing slightly dimmer than it had before, as though mourning the possible loss of Cornelia.

The dream was cut short, as someone was gently prodding him with a finger. He opened one eye to see who it was, before sulking and turning around.

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Neah.” His mother chastised softly, running her hands through the tangled mess that was his hair. “You need to apologize to Mana. That wasn’t kind of you to yell at him when he was helping you clean your mess.”

With a loud sniffle, Neah pouted harder, angry that Mother was forcing him to make up with Mana so soon. He didn’t want to.

“Is Cornelia alright?” He asked, the question seeming to catch his Mother by surprise.

“Of course she is, I dare say she’ll be ready to bloom again in the coming weeks. But I’m not here to talk about the tree Neah.”

Neah bit his lip, “Mana said I was stupid for believing in the story about the boy in the moon. I don’t want to apologize.”

She nodded, “He told me what happened Neah, but you need to apologize first, my love.”

He refused to answer, and she continued to unravel the tangles in his hair with her fingers, gliding them through his hair in a comforting motion.

“Neah?”

“I will Mother.” Neah grumbled reluctantly, knowing that it was pointless to argue, especially since he was at fault to begin with. He should have known Mana would not be nearly as excited as he was, since Mana didn’t believe in things like vampires and ghouls; they were just things to scare gullible kids like himself. Sleepily, he stumbled off his bed and exited the room, surprised to see Mana leaning against the wall just outside his room, nervously playing with the ends of his night-gown.

“Neah -”

“Mana, I’m -”

They both stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to interrupt the other. Neah sighed and went first.

“Mana, I’m sorry. For being rude. I just got really excited.” He muttered as he stared at the ground, hoping that this was enough to satisfy his Mother.

Mana shook his head, “No Neah, I’m sorry too. It’s not your fault for being excited. Look, we’ll do more reading together, okay? We’ll see if there’s a man on the moon.” Neah’s eyes shone brightly at Mana’s proposition, knowing it must be quite difficult for Mana to be willing to push aside his skepticism for Neah’s sake. With a wide smile stretching across his face, Neah tackled Mana into a hug. If they worked between the two of them, they would for sure find some sort of answer.

A gentle hand brushed against his head, interrupting their moment.

“Thank you you two for making up with one another. Now, it’s off to bed. Come along Mana.”

Mana nodded, giving Neah a quick good night kiss on his check before speeding off to his room. Mother chuckled softly as she watched her eldest fly off, kissing Neah as well and wishing him a good night as she too, went off to bed.

With a yawn, Neah ambled back into his room, closing the door and rushing to the window. The dark night sky was not filled with the usual moonlight he’d grown fond of, as only the dull, fading lights of the stars twinkled back at him. It was a new moon, and the moon had decided to hide its face. That was okay with Neah, even though he couldn’t see the moon; he was sure the moon was watching him. And he began to make small talk with it, recounting on what he’d managed to dig up from the library, his excitement upon being told that Mana was in better health, the argument the two had, and then the peculiar dream he’d had. Through all this, he began to become quite sleepy, and as he was finishing up the last of his story, he let out a small yawn, murmured good night, and fell asleep beneath the soft light of the stars.

  



End file.
